This is a space opera that has it all. Mutiny, betrayal and redemption. A crew driven to actions beyond their control. What seemed a simple rescue of a freighter in distress turns into a nightmare. A captain will come to question her decisions. This will become a fight to the death. There is great pace in this story that will leave you wanting more.
I was given an ARC of this book by Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

The germ of this story seems decent enough but it's hard to stay interested when every trivial detail of the characters' activities are described for you. I can't say much more than that.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Stroud's novel. The characters are all well developed and you feel you know them. I enjoyed reading the complex and evolving plot. I look forward to Stroud's next book.

Human colonies on Moon, Mars, Ceres, and Europa need to be supported by the Fleet. Captain Shann and her crew patrol the space traffic to provide roadside assistance in case of emergencies. During the acceleration on the way to a freighter's distress signal, one of crew dies, and a mystery story begins: Was it an accident or murder? Soon after they arrive at the helpless freighter, they battle against a human created superior battleship. A race to the safety of nearby Mars moon Phobos starts. The crew fights not only against this exterior enemy but also against their fears, suspicions, treason, end even mutiny.

This juicy space opera leads you breathlessly through mystery and action scenes. It is one of the highest sugar calory popcorn stories that I ever read, and I couldn't put it down. Great characterization of multiple point of views, engaging space tactics, innovative problem solving feed that special urge of SF nerds. Don't read this for relaxation but for entertainment. The tension arc holds up to the last page, and while providing a very satisfying ending it leaves enough trails for followup novels. Highly recommended.

Like The Expanse series, Fearless sits in one of those limbo part of science fiction timelines which are often glossed over. Humanity is tentatively in space, there are bases on Mars, Ceres and Europa - and asteroid mining is taking off. Most space travel is still regulated by governmental organisations in private partnerships. More important spaceships are blocky, functional things with skeleton crews and limited fuel and manoeuvrability. So the moment in time is where the first bit of space piracy or warfare take place and the costs of working in space are being felt on Earth, Into this comes our fleet spaceship the Khidr as space cops, trying to make the trading routes and miners safe, between legal enforcement and a lifeboat. And we get to see how difficult, disastrous and fraught actual combat with an unknown agenda is when your comms are out and you don't really know what is going on.

I enjoyed Fearless a lot (its bland title notwithstanding), as it quickly gets to ground its multiple conflicts in very human emotions. The story is told from a number of viewpoints, all crew, and from different positions on the conflict all with a bundle of issues. Some of this issues are a little "motivation 101", troubled gamblers need not apply, but at least the book works through their psychological arcs as the actual tension ramps up. Stroud does not always elegantly dump his info (his intro to our main character who was born without legs is not subtle - but the work put into that characterisation pays off near the end). And whilst there is some solid mystery behind why this conflict happens (in some areas unsolved one assumes for a sequel), there is also a political moment being described where perhaps our captain and her actions are the wrong ones. All the protagonists are flawed, and all have to reckon with it.

Whilst I mentioned there are plenty of loose ends for a sequel, it does work well as a standalone - and I liked its commitment to a consistent set of science handwaves (who knows if these lasers or missiles would work but the shortfalls of combat manoeuvring certainly makes sense). Again like the Expanse there is also a hint of a first contact moment on display, and by not showing his whole hand, Stroud has intrigued me.